Infertility: My Story and Hope with #TheStorkOTC

The journey to parenthood can be difficult, particularly if you’re one of the 7.3 million couples in the U.S. having trouble conceiving. If you’re not experiencing difficulty yourself, you likely know someone who is. Fertility troubles are an all-too-common issue–one that I am honored to discuss in partnership with The Stork OTC, an at-home option that could bring hope to many. We each have a story that has brought us to this point of struggling with infertility. Here is mine.

I hit puberty later than my friends, I was fifteen and my periods were extremely unusual. Or rather, I guess I never knew when I would have one. Months would pass, and I would not have one, and then it would come with painful vengeance and last a week or two. I felt like I couldn’t handle what all other women since the beginning of time dealt with every single month. When my period would start, I would curl up in a ball in bed and just cry. The idea of standing up was terrifying because every time I felt as if my abdomen might rip open. I couldn’t sleep because of the pain. I was miserable and truly embarrassed to complain about my period. I went to the doctor and tried different brands of birth control, which actually created more problems and made me incredibly depressed. Nothing seemed to cure the problem, and I just learned to live with it.

Finally, at the age of 22, I found an OB/GYN, who explained that something was not right if my period was causing me enough pain that I could not function. He scheduled a laparoscopic surgery to check for endometriosis. I will never forget laying in the out-patient surgery recovery after my first surgery. My doctor came in and said it looked as if endometriosis was all over my uterus and my ovaries, and he was able to “clean up” the scar tissue. At this point in my life, I was newly engaged. My doctor said that if I ever wanted to have children, I should do it soon. What?! I was planning my wedding NOT planning on adding more people to our family.

Actually, it was the week of my wedding that I have a “flare up” of my endometriosis. I could not stop bleeding. Talk about a great way to start my romantic life with my husband. It lasted for months, so my doctor put me on a six-month cycle of Lupron. This put my body into a menopausal state to allow the endometriosis to die down. While on Lupron, I was extremely emotional and had terrible hot flashes. It stopped my period and all the spotting, and that was such a welcome change that I happily accepted hot flashes in exchange!

A couple of years later, the Real Geek Dad were ready to start a family. After trying to get pregnant on our own for almost a year, my doctor used the word “infertility,” and he explained all of our options. In 2003, while Real Geek Dad was getting his sperm tested, I began taking 50mg of Clomid, and at my first scan it was clear that I still was not ovulating. Real Geek Dad’s tests came back, and he was not the problem. I had never thought ovulation was my problem, and here we were on medication to make me ovulate and it still wasn’t enough! The next month they doubled the dose and I did ovulate, but I did not get pregnant. Each month, he increased my dosage, and after six months, my doctor stopped Clomid. Both financially and emotionally, we were at our limits. We decided to walk away and pray. Lord, your will not mine. Six months after we stopped infertility treatments, I became pregnant naturally. Unfortunately, I did not carry this baby to term. Our little angel went to heaven on the New Year’s of 2004. A word like “sadness” cannot explain the feeling of loss and disappoint that we felt, but the hope that we had was that I was able to be pregnant. It would be later that year that I would be pregnant with Jadyn, meaning “thankful” in Hebrew, because we were so thankful that the Lord gave her to us.

What is exciting for me to hear is how the medical community is trying to help infertile families like us. Did you know that there is a drug-free conception device that offers a relaxed and private way of conceiving at-home using new technology based on cervical cap insemination? It’s called The Stork OTC. It’s a sensible option that puts you in control, and is widely available over-the-counter, without a prescription to optimize your chances of conceiving this month. Newly published data in the Surgery Technology International demonstrates that The Stork OTC is more effective at delivering sperm to the cervix than natural intercourse. In an age when reproductive treatment options are largely high-cost and complex, The Stork OTC offers an elegantly simple way to optimize chances for conception, in the privacy of home, and a fraction of the cost ($79.99/single-use device) than invasive procedures such as IUI, IVF, etc.–procedures often not covered by insurance, and that we would have simply not been able afford.

This is my infertility story. If you have recently be diagnosed with endometriosis, or your endo is now leading to infertility problems, I hope that you know you are not alone. Fortunately, there are products like The Stork OTC available to help you on your journey. In the end, I hope you find peace through prayer because you will never be alone with Jesus. Know you are no alone in this fight for a family.Join me and others for a one-hour Twitter chat on December 8, 2015 at 12PM ET. We will be asking questions and sharing stories with the Twitter party hosts (@TMChatHost, @theMotherhood, @CooperMunroe and @EmilyMcKhann), using the #TheStorkOTC hashtag. There is also a giveaway for five CVS gift cards. Can’t wait for you to join us!

Disclosure: Real Posh Mom was commissioned by The Stork by Rinovum to tell my story of infertility. For more on The Stork OTC, visit rinovum.com/thestork.com.